I've always been a jukebox player. One fond childhood memory entails stopping at a retro diner, on family road trips, that had individual boxes in each booth. In the late '90s, as a Tulane student, I spent lots of quarters on the 45 jukeboxes (now, sadly, both defunct) at Snake and Jake's and at the Saturn Bar. New Orleans, a city of music lovers, still has a lot of great jukeboxes; personally, I like to play Thin Lizzy at the Lost Love Lounge and the Pogues, while sipping a Guinness, at Molly's.

One of my former favorite jukeboxes, at Markey's Bar, was recently swapped out for an Internet jukebox. More than one bartender, during a recent jukebox mini-tour of New Orleans, told me that jukebox companies like to do that; Internet boxes require less maintenance than the CD kind. That's too bad, because what we like about jukeboxes is the curation – flipping the pages, seeing what's on offer. I discovered the weird R&B gem "Leave Bill Clinton Alone," by Larry Shannon Hargrove, on the old jukebox at the Mother-in-Law Lounge. In the days of the Shim Sham Club (now One Eyed Jacks) owner Morgan Higby Night would update the box with music by bands with gigs coming up on the bar's calendar.

Last week, on NOLA.com and on my Facebook page, I asked readers and friends to weigh in on their favorite jukeboxes. On the Facebook thread, one commenter remembered, "In '06 and '07, there were lots of volunteers and disaster-tourists drinking it off at BJ's (Lounge, in Bywater – which is packed with music by artists who live near the bar.)

"I liked to blow their minds," he wrote, "by playing an hour-long jukebox set of nothing but people in the neighborhood."

Here's some of the other top-mentioned local jukebox favorites:

The Chart Room (300 Chartres St.) might have been the most celebrated, among those who weighed in. Stopping by during a Friday happy hour, the box was rocking the after-work crowd with both classic and current New Orleans jams, from Louis Armstrong to Dumpstaphunk's latest, the summer-2013 release "Dirty Word." It's heavy on local music, ranging across genres – also represented were Trombone Shorty, Ingrid Lucia, Henry Butler, the Iguanas, Irma Thomas, Kermit Ruffins, the Neville Brothers, Bonerama, the Meters, Dr. John and Fats – as well as a solid roundup of classic rock, funk and blues, including "Exile on Main Street," "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars," and greatest-hits collections of Muddy Waters and B.B. King. Extra bonus points for including "The Cosimo Matassa Story," a collection of deep cuts waxed at the legendary J&M Studios.

Several north shore residents voted in favor of the Pizza Man, (1248 N. Collins Blvd) Covington's oldest pizza parlor. It's an old-school business, and apparently, the jukebox is full of old-school sounds. NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune director of metro content Mark Lorando noted that it's "packed with classic oldies - Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Simon & Garfunkel, Van Morrison, Beach Boys - and their flipsides," he wrote. "James Taylor fans: Plunk down a few quarters to hear "Anywhere Like Heaven," the flip side to "Fire and Rain" ... classic."

A longtime favorite of mine, and apparently of commenters as well, is the jukebox at the Circle Bar (1032 St. Charles Ave.) Its original local owner Kelly Keller, who passed away in 2004, had a wide-ranging, eclectic taste in music, honed both by growing up in the heart of Louisiana swamp-blues country and later, by booking talent at the hip New York City music venue Coney Island High. In ten years, her selections have by and large not been disturbed, and it's the kind of jukebox that's a genuine lesson in rock n' roll: it features obscure Southern soul, '60s girl groups, vintage garage-rock, New York punk and New Orleans R&B, plus a lot more.

BJ's Lounge in the Bywater (4301 Burgundy St.) drew a lot of fans for its jukebox's hyperlocal bent. With a heavy selection of albums by musicians who live in the neighborhood, it's the kind of bar where you might wind up drinking next to the artist whose song you just picked. Ninth Warders Little Freddie King, the Morning 40 Federation, the late Billy Ding and his band the Hot Wings and more neighbors are on the box, along with classic New Orleans rhythm and blues from Allen Toussaint, Johnny Adams and Dave Bartholomew.

Other fan favorites in response to my queries included the jukeboxes at the Lost Love Lounge, Liuzza's by the Track, Crescent City Steaks, the Brothers Three, One Eyed Jacks, Port of Call, the Erin Rose, Henry's Uptown Bar and the R Bar. If you decide to go out and take one for a spin, remember my jukebox etiquette advice: Don't put in five bucks and monopolize the sounds if the bar is full. If the bartender puts in a few dollars for the room, leave some selections for the next guy. And don't play Tom Waits before midnight.